I recently found out that the company I work for is looking at Microsoft SQL Reporting Services as a possible reporting solution. I tried Googling for some info on it, and I came up with a fair amount of marketing-speak and very little substance. I tried to install the demo, but it kep telling me I needed SQL Server 2000 SP 3a, even though I had SP4, so I guess I'll have to fiddle around to find out what's wrond with that...

Anyway, we generally write administrative software for school districts at work, and I end up writing a lot of custom transcripts and report cards. Frequently, the data isn't exactly in a simple tabular format. Often, the layouts are diverse and complex. From all that I read about SQL Reporting Services online, I couldn't find any examples beyond really basic tabular reports. Has anyone had any experience doing this sort of thing? Any links to some more advanced examples?

Thanks,
Carl

The reporting department at work uses SQL Reporting Services almost exclusively. They really like the flexibility that it gives them and speak very highly of it. They have around 100 reports and counting.

I've used it for a couple of IT reports and it is very fast and easy to create a new report. We also get pretty crazy with some of the reports and use pie charts, bar graphs and the like. Its really not a bad tool.

It is fussy and difficult to set up properly, though.